Authenticating digitally encoded products without private key sharing

ABSTRACT

A method and a corresponding system for authenticating software products are proposed. A digital certificate and a corresponding private key required to sign each product are stored on a server computer. Whenever a user needs to sign a product, he/she logs on a client computer and transmits a corresponding request to the server computer. The server computer verifies whether the request has been received from an authorized subject; for example, an address of the client computer and an identifier of the user are compared with a predefined list. If the result of the verification is positive, the product is signed and returned to the client computer. For this purpose, a script called on the server computer includes either an instruction passing the access password to a signing tool as a parameter or an instruction causing the signing tool to import the access password from a registry of the server computer.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the data processing field, and morespecifically to a method and a corresponding system for authenticatingdigitally encoded products.

BACKGROUND ART

Authentication of digital encoded products (such as software programs)is commonplace in modern data processing infrastructures. Theauthentication process is used to certify the identity of an entity fromwhich any product is received. The need of authenticated products isparticularly acute in environments (typically based on the Internet)that are open and then allow aft uncontrolled access thereto. Forexample, a software distribution application requires the authenticationof any applet used to perform the operations needed for installing thedesired software products on target computers; in this way, the originof the applet can be verified (by a user of the target computer) beforeauthorizing the execution of potentially dangerous operations.

Generally, the authentication process involves the generation of adigital signature using a private key; a trusted certification authorityguarantees the identity of the owner of the private key by means of acorresponding digital certificate. In order to increase security of theauthentication process, the private key is commonly encrypted andprotected by a password that must be typed during a signing procedure.The owner of the private key must take all the precautions required toprevent any loss or disclosure of the password, which can result in anunauthorized and malicious use of the private key (for example, with thedistribution of harmful code by a hacker pretending to be the owner ofthe private key).

However, in many practical situations access to the private key must begranted to several persons; for example, a typical scenario is theauthentication of the software products that are routinely delivered bydifferent teams of a software development laboratory in a largecorporation. In the above-mentioned situations, it is unavoidable toshare the password for accessing the private key among a high number ofpersons. However, this uncontrolled dissemination of sensitiveinformation can jeopardize the security of the authentication process.Particularly, the risk of misuse of the private key is stronglyincreased; moreover, the actual use of the private key by the differentpersons cannot be tracked in any way.

At the same time, the control of the accesses to the private key is verycritical. In fact, the revocation of an authorization granted to aspecific person involves the generation of a new access password and itsdistribution to all the (still authorized) persons. For example, thisprocess must be performed whenever a person has been transferred to adifferent department or has left the company. However, the operationsdescribed above are very complex, time consuming and prone to securitybreach.

Vice-versa, limiting the access to the private key involves the need ofhaving multiple digital certificates with corresponding private keys(for example, one for every team). However, this approach is detrimentalto the corporate image on the marketplace; moreover, it increases thecosts of buying and renewing the different digital certificates. Thesecurity problems are also exacerbated by the proliferation of thesensitive information to be protected.

An additional drawback is due to the fact that the signing procedurerequires the typing of the access password for each product to beauthenticated. As a consequence, the authentication process cannot beunattended.

Alternative approaches supported by the signing tools known in the artare not tenable. For example, some signing tools support a command lineinterface that allows passing the access password as a parameter; inthis case, the access password can be inserted in an instruction of ascript calling the signing tool. Different signing tools make itpossible to import the private key from a configuration registry.However, those solutions are unacceptable, because they would involvethe dissemination of the private key without any control.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and acorresponding system for authenticating digitally encoded products thatdo not require the sharing of sensitive information used to certify theorigin of the products.

It is another object of the present invention to increase the securityof the authentication process, so as to reduce the risks of any misuseof the sensitive information.

It is yet another object of the present invention to allow tracking theactual use of the sensitive information by different authorized users.

Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to centralize thecontrol of the authentication process.

It is another object of the present invention to restrict the access tothe sensitive information, without requiring its proliferation.

It is yet another object of the present invention to support anunattended authentication process.

The accomplishment of these and other related objects is achieved by amethod of authenticating a digitally encoded product being originated byan entity having at least one authorized subject, the method includingthe steps of: a client system transmitting a request of authenticationof the product to a server system, the server system verifying whetherthe request is received from an authorized subject, and responsive to apositive verification certifying that the product originates from theentity using sensitive information of the entity stored on the serversystem, and returning a representation of the certification to theclient system.

The present invention also provides a computer program application forperforming the method, and corresponding computer programs running onthe client system and on the server system, respectively; programproducts storing these computer programs are also encompassed.

Moreover, the invention provides a structure for implementing themethod; a client system and a server system for use in the structure arealso included.

The novel features believed to be characteristic of this invention areset forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as wellas these and other related objects and advantages thereof, will be bestunderstood by reference to the following detailed description to be readin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 a is a schematic block diagram of a data processinginfrastructure in which the method of the invention is applicable;

FIG. 1 b shows the functional blocks of a generic computer of thesystem;

FIG. 2 depicts the main software components used to implement themethod;

FIGS. 3 a-3 b illustrate an activity diagram describing the logic flowof the method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference in particular to FIG. 1 a, a distributed data processinginfrastructure 100 is shown. The structure 100 implements an automatedenvironment for building packages in a software distributionapplication. Each software package embeds a copy of one or more productsto be installed on target computers (not shown in the figure). Thesoftware package can include one or more applets (for example, writtenin the Java language); each applet consists of a small program designedto run only from within another application (and not directly from anoperating system), such as from within a web browser equipped with aJava Virtual Machine.

The applet must be classified as “trusted”, in order to be authorized toperform the operations required by the software distribution application(for example, open network connections, read system information, updatefiles or run executables). In fact, regular applets are executed bydefault in a controlled environment (referred to as a “sandbox”),wherein potentially dangerous operations are denied. Conversely, atrusted applet is given special privileges that allow performing thoseoperations. In order to be classified as trusted, the applet must beauthenticated; in this way, a user of the target computer is guaranteedof the origin of the applet when prompted to grant the specialprivileges.

For this purpose, the structure 100 includes several client computers105, which are responsible to build the software packages to bedistributed; a user can log on each client computer 105 specifyinghis/her user identifier (userID) and a personal password. A servercomputer 110 is dedicated to authenticate the applets associated withdifferent software packages; access to the server computer 110 isrestricted to one or more system administrators (by means ofcorresponding passwords). The client computers 105 and the servercomputer 110 are coupled through a network 115; the network 115 consistsof a trusted structure, such as a private Local Area Network (LAN) of asoftware development laboratory.

The authentication of the applets is based on a Public KeyInfrastructure (PKI). The PKI leverages an asymmetric encryptiontechnique involving the use of a (non-confidential) public key and a(confidential) private key. One of the keys (either the public one orthe private one) is used to encrypt an original message (i.e., totransform the original message in an apparently unintelligible form);the other key is used to decipher the encrypted message in order toobtain the original message. The keys are generated so that it iscomputationally unfeasible to obtain the private key from the publickey.

A Certification Authority (CA) guarantees the identity of the owner ofthe pair of keys (the development laboratory in the example at issue) bymeans of a corresponding digital certificate. The digital certificateincludes information identifying the owner (such as name, address, andthe like), his/her public key, and the name of the certificationauthority. The digital certificate is digitally signed by thecertification authority.

The digital signature of a message is created generating a hash value ofthe message. The hash value consists of a pre-set number of bits, lowerthan the one required to encode the message directly; nevertheless, thehash value is substantially unique for the message (that is, any changein the message generates a different hash value). The hash value isobtained using a one-way function, so that it is computationallyunfeasible to obtain the message from the hash value. The digitalsignature is then created by encrypting the hash value with the privatekey of a sender. A receiver of the (signed) message can validate thesame simply generating the hash value of the message and comparing thishash value with the one extracted from the digital signature using thepublic key of the sender. In this way, the receiver verifies that theoriginal message has not been corrupted (integrity) and that it has beenactually sent by the entity identified in the digital certificate(authenticity).

Therefore, the digital certificate issued by the certification authorityguarantees that the owner of the private/public keys pair is actuallythe entity identified in the digital certificate. The identity of thecertification authority is in turn guaranteed by an upper levelcertification authority, up to a main certification authority generallytrusted.

In the present application, any applet is authenticated by thedevelopment laboratory generating a digital signature thereof using therespective private key. The digital signature and the digitalcertificate of the development laboratory are then attached to thesoftware package. Therefore, the user of any target computer can verifythat the applet has been actually delivered by the developmentlaboratory (identified in the digital certificate).

However, the concepts of the present invention are also applicable whenthe structure has another architecture, when a single client computer ortwo or more server computers are envisaged, or when the access to eachclient and server computer is controlled in another way (for example,using a hardware key). Similar considerations apply if the softwarepackages are authenticated with a different technique, or if thestructure is used in another application; for example, the solution ofthe invention can be exploited by a generic entity to authenticateequivalent program code, software drivers, license certificates, or moregenerally to authenticate any digitally encoded product.

A shown in FIG. 1 b, a generic computer of the structure (client orserver) is formed by several units that are connected in parallel to acommunication bus 150. In detail, a microprocessor (μP) 155 controlsoperation of the computer, a (Random Access Memory) RAM 160 is directlyused as a working memory by the microprocessor 155, and a Read OnlyMemory (ROM) 165 stores basic code for a bootstrap of the computer.Several peripheral units are further connected to the bus 150 (by meansof respective interfaces). Particularly, a mass memory consists of amagnetic hard-disk 170 and a driver 175 for reading CD-ROMs 180.Moreover, the computer includes input devices 185 (for example, akeyboard and a mouse), and output devices 190 (for example, a monitorand a printer). A network Interface Card (NIC) 195 is used to connectthe computer in the network.

However, the concepts of the present invention are also applicable whenthe (client and/or server) computers have a different structure orinclude other units. Similar considerations apply if the computers arereplaced with equivalent logic and/or physic systems; for example, eachcomputer can consist of a virtual machine or can be implemented with twoor more distinct machines (such as a front-end and a back-end).

Considering now FIG. 2, the main software components used in thestructure described above are illustrated. The information (programs anddata) is typically stored on the hard-disks of the client and servercomputers; the information is loaded (at least partially) into therespective working memories when the programs are running, together withthe operating systems and other application programs (not shown in thefigure). The programs are initially installed onto the hard-disks fromCD-ROMs.

Particularly, a building tool 205 (typically including a compiler, alinker, and so on) is installed on each client computer. The buildingtool 205 accesses a source code repository 210 storing softwareproducts, instructions and applets to be distributed to the targetcomputers. The building tool 205 further controls a module 215, which isused to submit requests of authentication of specific applets to theserver computer. For this purpose, the submitting module 215 interfaceswith the client component 220 of a remote shell (RSH or REMSH); theremote shell client 220 allows invoking remote commands on the servercomputer (passing input parameters and receiving output resultsdirectly). As described in detail in the following, the remote commandsinvoked on the server computer return corresponding signed applets 225to the client computer. The building tool 205 transforms the source codestored in the repository 210 into executables, which are then bundled(together with the signed applets 225) so as to generate softwarepackages 230 (that are provided to the target computers).

Moving now to the server computer, an RSH deamon 235 cooperates with theremote shell client 220; the deamon 235 consists of a program thatcannot be invoked explicitly, but runs in the background waiting forsome conditions to occur. The deamon 235 implements several securityfeatures. In detail, all the Remote Copy (CRP) services are disabled; inthis way, the downloading of sensitive information from or the uploadingof harmful code to the server computer are prevented. Moreover, thedeamon 235 accesses an allowed command list 240 and a security file 245.

The list 240 specifies the remote commands that can be executed by thedeamon 235; typically, the allowed command list 240 includes one or moreremote commands for satisfying different requests of authentication fromthe client computers and an additional remote command for verifying thatthe server computer has been properly configured to allow a specificclient computer to connect.

On the other hand, the security file 245 specifies the client computersand the users that are authorized to request the authentication ofapplets to the server computer; for example, each authorized subject isidentified by a user identifier followed by an address of the clientcomputer where the user is logged on.

Each remote command that can be invoked on the server computer(specified in the allowed command list 240) consists of a script 250,which is called by the deamon 235. The scripts 250 interface withdifferent signing tools 255 (for example, a script SCRa for the Signtoolof Netscape and a script SCRb for the Authenticode of Microsoft). Allthe signing tools 255 access a digital certificate 260 and acorresponding private key 265; the private key is protected by an accesspassword (only known to the system administrator). Each tool 255digitally signs the applets received from the client computers; thesigned applets are returned to the client computers through the deamon235. The deamon 235 further controls the storing of information relatingto the received requests in a log 270 (for example, date and time, user,client computer, remote command, security exceptions, error messages,and the like).

However, the concepts of the present invention are also applicable whenthe authorized addresses and the authorized users are not-correlated toeach other, when the security file is replaced with equivalentinformation indicating the authorized subjets, or when a differentnumber of scripts are supported (down to a single one); alternatively,only the private key is stored on the server computer, or multipledigital certificates with the corresponding private keys are available(for example, for different companies of a holding). Similarconsiderations apply if the whole application (programs on the clientcomputer and on the server computer) and the corresponding data arestructured in a different manner, if other modules or functions areprovided, and the like.

Moving now to FIGS. 3 a-3 b, an activity diagram describing the logic ofa method 300 that implements a process of building a software package isillustrated. The process begins at the black start circle 303 in theswim-lane of a generic client computer. The source code to bedistributed is selected at block 306 (from the correspondingrepository). Passing to block 309, the files defining the associatedapplet intended to be executed on each target computer are extractedfrom the source code repository. The method continues to block 312,wherein the files of the applet are compiled and packed in an archive,typically consisting of a file conforming to the tar (Tape ARchive)format. Descending into block 315, a request of authentication of theapplet is submitted to the server computer. For this purpose, the tarfile is sent to a standard input channel (stdin) of the remote shellclient; the desired remote command is then invoked on the servercomputer (through the remote shell client).

The deamon running on the server computer is in a wait state at block324 (in the respective swim-lane). As soon as the remote command isreceived, the process descends into block 327, wherein the deamonretrieves the tar file passed by the remote shell client. The address ofthe client computer from which the remote command has been invoked isdetected at block 330. Likewise, the identifier of the user logged onthe client computer is detected at block 333. The process then verifiesat block 335 whether the pair “address-user” identifies a subjectauthorized to invoke remote commands on the server computer (i.e., thepair is included in the security file). If not, the process enters anerror condition at block 336. Conversely, a test is made at block 339 todetermine whether the remote command is included in the allowed commandlist. If the result of the verification is negative, the process entersthe error block 336. On the contrary, when all the security conditionsare met the script corresponding to the remote command is called atblock 349 (passing the tar file received from the client computer).

In any case, the process continues to block 352 (either from block 336or from block 349), wherein the information relating to the operationsdescribed above is logged on the server computer. The flow of activitiesthen returns to block 324, waiting for a next remote command.

Referring back to block 349, if the script called by the remote commandis SCRa (for the Signtool of Netscape) the blocks 355-363 are executed,whereas if the script is SCRb (for the Authenticode of Microsoft) theblocks 366-378 are executed.

Moving to the swim-lane of the script SCRa, the tar file received fromthe client computer is unpacked at block 355. The code of the scriptSCRa includes an instruction for causing the executing of a signingcommand by the corresponding tool. The location of the files to besigned, the location of the digital certificate and of the private key,an identifier of the digital certificate, and the password for accessingthe private key are passed to the signing tool as parameters; the scriptSCRa is protected, so that only the administrator can read its content(including the password for accessing the private key). In responsethereto, the applet is signed at block 361 by the corresponding tool.The result of this operation is a compressed archive, typicallyconsisting of a file conforming to the jar (Java ARchive) format; thejar file includes the (original) applet, the digital certificate and thedigital signature of the applet. The flow of activities continues toblock 363, wherein the signed applet is returned to the client computer(with the script SCRa that ends its execution). For this purpose, thesigned applet is packed (into a tar file) and then sent to a standardoutput channel (stdout) of the remote shell client. During the wholeactivity described above (corresponding to the execution of the scriptSCRa), messages denoting the progress of the different operations areechoed to the client computer using a standard error channel (stderr).

Similar operations are executed by the script SCRb. Particularly, thetar file received from the client computer is unpacked at block 366 (inthe corresponding swim-lane). Proceeding to block 369, the files to besigned are compressed into a single file, typically conforming to thecab (CABinet) format. The code of the script SCRb then includes aninstruction for causing the executing of a signing command by thecorresponding tool. The name of the cab file to be signed is passed tothe signing tool as a parameter; moreover, the signing command is calledspecifying an option (−cn) that instructs the signing tool to import thedigital certificate and the private key from a registry of the servercomputer. The registry consists of an archive storing configurationinformation. The digital certificate and the private key are included ina private section of the registry, which access is restricted to theadministrator; the information is imported into the registry during aconfiguration process of the server computer (with the password foraccessing the private key that is required only once during the importstep). The applet is then signed at block 375 by the corresponding tool.The process continues to block 378, wherein the resulting signed appletis packed into a tar file and returned to the client computer (with thescript SCRb that ends its execution).

Returning now to the swim-lane of the client computer, the remote shellclient at block 381 receives the tar file (generated by either thescript SCRa or the script SCRb). The flow of activities continues toblock 382, wherein the tar file is unpacked and made available to thebuilding tool. The process can now be completed at block 384 with thegeneration of the desired software package. The method then ends at theconcentric white/black stop circles 387.

In the process described above, whenever a new software package must beshipped a user logs on a specific client computer configured as abuilding machine; the users authorized to do so and the client computersthat they can use are predefined in the security file stored on theserver computer. The user can now configure the building tool as desiredand then run the corresponding process. The building process iscompletely unattended. In fact, the user only authenticates to theclient computer (entering his/her identifier and, the personal password)during a log-on procedure. Afterwards, any applet is digitally signed bythe server computer (which automatically retrieves the private keystored thereon) without requiring any manual intervention.

In addition, the authorizations for requesting the authentication ofproducts can be controlled centrally by the administrator in a verysimple manner. Particularly, the granting or the revoking of anauthorization (either to a user or to a client computer) is performedsimply updating the security file stored on the server computer. In anycase, once the access to the authorized client computers has been deniedto a user and/or the respective userID has been deleted, that usercannot request the authentication of products to the server computer anylonger. The security is further increased by the fact that theauthorized users never have direct access to the password for accessingthe private key; therefore, no sensitive information can be acquired bythe users while authorized to run the building process.

However, the concepts of the present invention are also applicable whendifferent signing tools are supported (for example, the JDK of Sun),when only the private key is imported from the registry, or when thedigital certificate and/or the private key are loaded in another privateconfiguration memory area of the server computer. Similar considerationsapply if an equivalent method is implemented, if different file formatsare used, and the like.

Alternatively, the method of the invention is used in a data processinginfrastructure based on an untrusted network, such as the Internet. Asuggested choice for implementing the method is to use the HyperTextTransfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) standard. In this way, the informationtransmitted over the Internet is encrypted; moreover, each user loggedon a client computer authenticates to the server computer using acorresponding digital certificate. The signing procedure is then verysimilar to the one described above. In detail, the client computertransmits the request of authentication through a POST method; thecorresponding response will include the signed applet (in a body) andinformation relating to the executed operations (in a header). On theserver side, a Servlet engine or a CGI infrastructure performs all theoperations required to manage the signing procedure.

For example, the alternative embodiment of the invention described abovecan be used by distributed development laboratories interacting with asingle remote server computer. Moreover, the server computer can also bemanaged by an external company operating as a service provider forseveral clients (for example, implementing a “pay-per-use” policy).

More generally, the present invention proposes a method ofauthenticating a digitally encoded product; the product has beenoriginated by an entity having one or more authorized subjects. In themethod of the invention, a client system transmits a request ofauthentication of the product to a server system. The server systemverifies whether the request is received from an authorized subject. Thefollowing steps are executed in response to a positive verification.First of all, the server system certifies that the product originatesfrom the entity; for this purpose, sensitive information of the entitystored on the server system are used. A representation of thecertification is then returned to the client system.

In the method of the invention the server system performs all theoperations required to authenticate the products; in this way, thesharing of any sensitive information used to certify the origin of theproducts is avoided.

The devised solution increases the securing of the authenticationprocess, thereby reducing the risks of any misuse of the sensitiveinformation.

The method of the invention allows tracking the actual use of thesensitive information by the different authorized subjects.

Moreover, the control of the authentication process is centralized onthe server computer; therefore, its management is strongly simplified.

The proposed structure makes it possible to restrict the access to thesensitive information, without involving its proliferation.

The solution according to the present invention also supports unattendedauthentication processes.

The preferred embodiment of the invention described above offers furtheradvantages.

Particularly, the subject from which the request of authentication isreceived is verified controlling an address of the client computer.

In this way, the use of the private key can be restricted to requestscoming from predefined computers.

In addition or in alternative, the method verifies whether the userlogged on the client computer is authorized.

The proposed feature further increases the security of the process.

However, the solution of the present invention leads itself to beimplemented even verifying only the address of the client computer oronly the user from which the request is received. For example, theverification limited to the address can be implemented when the accessto the client computers is strongly controlled; conversely, theverification limited to the user allows requesting the authentication ofproducts from different locations. Alternatively, the verification ofthe subject from which the request is received is based on differentproperties; for example, the server computer can satisfy the requestsonly coming from the client computers of a specific department.

The solution according to the present invention is specifically designedfor an authentication process involving the generation of a digitalsignature of the product with a private key (which is automaticallyretrieved on the server computer).

This application is particularly advantageous and makes it possible toprovide a completely unattended process (even if the application ofdifferent authentication techniques is not excluded).

In a specific embodiment of the invention, a password for accessing theprivate key is passed to the signing tool as a parameter.

Alternatively, the private key is imported from a private configurationmemory area of the server computer.

Both the approaches described above are very simple and flexible, but atthe same time effective.

However, the method of the invention is also suitable to be implementedwith different procedures for retrieving the private key. For example,in an environment wherein the access to the server computer is stronglycontrolled, the private key can be stored without any access password.

A way to further improve the solution is to limit the commands that canbe invoked on the server computer.

This additional feature reduces the risks of any unauthorized access tothe server computer (and then to the private key).

In any case, the provision of alternative security measures isenvisaged.

Advantageously, the solution according to the present invention isimplemented with a computer program, which is provided as acorresponding product stored on a suitable medium. The program has aclient-server architecture, with different modules running on the clientcomputer and on the server computer, respectively. Moreover, it shouldbe noted that either the component on the client computer or thecomponent on the server computer is suitable to be implemented anddistributed separately.

Alternatively, the program is pre-loaded onto the hard-disks, is sent tothe computers through a network (typically the Internet), is broadcast,or more generally is provided in any other form directly loadable intothe working memories of the computers. However, the method according tothe present invention leads itself to be carried out even with ahardware structure (for example, integrated in a chip of semiconductormaterial).

Naturally, in order to satisfy local and specific requirements, a personskilled in the art may apply to the solution described above manymodifications and alterations all of which, however, are included withinthe scope of protection of the invention as defined by the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer program product comprising a computerreadable storage device on which a computer readable program is stored,wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a dataprocessing structure, causes the data processing structure to: receive arequest of authentication of a product that includes a request to invokea remote command for satisfying the request of authentication from aclient system, verify whether the request of authentication is receivedfrom an authorized subject, and responsive to a positive verificationthat the request is received from an authorized subject: verify whetherthe remote command is included in a predefined list stored on the dataprocessing structure, wherein the list includes at least one remotecommand for satisfying the request of authentication, and responsive tothe remote command being included in the predefined list, execute theremote command by: certifying that the product originates from an entityhaving at least one authorized subject using sensitive information ofthe entity stored on the data processing structure, and returning arepresentation of the certification to the client system.
 2. Thecomputer program product according to claim 1, wherein the computerreadable program for verifying whether the request is received from anauthorized subject further causes the data processing structure to:compare an address of the client system with an indication of authorizedaddresses stored on the data processing structure.
 3. The computerprogram product according to claim 1, wherein the computer readableprogram for verifying whether the request is received from an authorizedsubject further causes the data processing structure to: compare anidentifier of a user logged on the client system with an indication ofauthorized users stored on the data processing structure.
 4. Thecomputer program product according to claim
 1. wherein the computerreadable program for certifying further causes the data processingstructure to: automatically retrieve a private key of the entity storedon the data processing structure, and digitally signing the productusing the private key.
 5. The computer program product according toclaim 4, wherein the computer readable program for automaticallyretrieving the private key further causes the data processing structureto: call a signing command passing a password for accessing the privatekey as a parameter.
 6. The computer program product according to claim4, wherein the computer readable program for automatically retrievingthe private key further causes the data processing structure to: call asigning command with an option causing the import of the private keyfrom a private configuration memory area of the data processingstructure.
 7. A data processing structure comprising: a processor; and amemory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises ininstructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processorto: receive a request of authentication of a product that includes arequest to invoke a remote command for satisfying the request ofauthentication from a client system, verify whether the request ofauthentication is received from an authorized subject, and responsive toa positive verification that the request is received from an authorizedsubject: verify whether the remote command is included in a predefinedlist stored on the data processing structure, wherein the list includesat least one remote command for satisfying the request ofauthentication, and responsive to the remote command being included inthe predefined list, execute the remote command by: certifying that theproduct originates from an entity having at least one authorized subjectusing sensitive information of the entity stored on the data processingstructure, and returning a representation of the certification to theclient system.
 8. The data processing structure according to claim 7,wherein the instructions for verifying whether the request is receivedfrom an authorized subject further cause the processor to: compare anaddress of the client system with an indication of authorized addressesstored on the data processing structure.
 9. The data processingstructure according to claim 7, wherein the instructions for verifyingwhether the request is received from an authorized subject further causethe processor to: compare an identifier of a user logged on the clientsystem with an indication of authorized users stored on the dataprocessing structure.
 10. The data processing structure according toclaim 7, wherein the instructions for certifying further cause theprocessor to: automatically retrieve a private key of the entity storedon the data processing structure and digitally signing the product usingthe private key.
 11. The data processing structure according to claim10, wherein the instructions for automatically retrieving the privatekey further cause the processor to: call a signing command passing apassword for accessing the private key as a parameter.
 12. The dataprocessing structure according to claim 10, wherein the instructions forautomatically retrieving the private key further cause the processor to:call a signing command with an option causing the import of the privatekey from a private configuration memory area of the data processingstructure.
 13. A data processing structure comprising: a processor; anda memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprisesinstructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processorto: receive a request of authentication of a product that includes arequest to invoke a remote command for satisfying the request ofauthentication from a client system; verify whether the request ofauthentication is received from an authorized subject; and responsive toa positive verification that the request is received from an authorizedsubject: verify whether the remote command is included in a predefinedlist stored on the data processing structure, wherein the list includesat least one remote command for satisfying the request ofauthentication, and responsive to the remote command being included inthe predefined list, execute the remote command by: generating a digitalsignature of the product using a private key of the entity stored on thedata processing structure; and returning the digital signature to theclient system, wherein the digital signature certifies that the productoriginates from the entity.
 14. A computer program product comprising acomputer readable storage device on which a computer readable program isstored, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a dataprocessing structure, causes the data processing structure to: receive arequest of authentication of a product that includes a request to invokea remote command for satisfying the request of authentication from aclient system; verify whether the request of authentication is receivedfrom an authorized subject; and responsive to a positive verificationthat the request is received from an authorized subject: verify whetherthe remote command is included in a predefined list stored on the dataprocessing structure, wherein the list includes at least one remotecommand for satisfying the request of authentication, and responsive tothe remote command being included in the predefined list, execute theremote command by: generating a digital signature of the product using aprivate key of the entity stored on the data processing structure; andreturning the digital signature to the client system, wherein thedigital signature certifies that the product originates from the entity.